west elm — Attraction in Paramus

Update: Maria, the store manager helped us to make it right. I wish she was at the store last Saturday to solve the issue.

... I purchased a floor cabinet from this store (Mid-Century Bar Cabinet - Small, Acorn). It was a final sale (floor model). I saw some scratches, and a door knob was a bit loose, which I didn't mind. The tag said that the original price was $799, discounted at $519. I thought it was a fair deal for what we needed, especially with the additional 10% discount.

I brought it home and noticed that one of the wooden legs was broken, then glued back together. At a store like WE, I had some level of quality expectation even as a floor model. In other stores I visited for other furniture purchases, major scratches or chips were pointed out along with other reasons for the discount; and none of them were selling items that had this significant damage. If I had purchased an item like this on a street, auction house, or at a shady shop, I would have blamed myself for taking the "risk". However, not at a store like WE. I interpreted "floor model / final sale" as "there are cosmetic damages and you don't get to change your mind after you buy it", not as "this is like an auction store, you really don't know what you are getting - so buy it at your own risk."

To add a level of disappointment, when we came home and checked online, the original price was $699.

When we contacted the store, the store rep on the phone was pretty firm that there is nothing they can do due to the policy, which is fair given the lack of authority on her part. She recommended to us that we buy the legs separately on their website/store, which was very upsetting, before suggesting that we call the store manager on Monday. I went ahead and called the corporate number to make a complaint. Kara, who answered the call, did not understand my concern at all, and told me that it was my fault for not carefully examining the item. When I asked her to transfer me to speak to her manager, she flat out refused. She also told me that there is no way for me to escalate it, other than speaking with the store manager. I kept asking her for her manager, at which point she hung up on me.

One good thing came out of this was learning that West Elm and Pottery Barn are part of the bigger parent corporation (Williams-Sonoma Inc.). Sad thing is that they generally have pretty bad reviews, even accounting for the negative bias. The fact that there is no way for the customers to make a formal complaint at a corporate level is a good place to understand why. This just screams "I don't really focus on customer experience."

The overall experience, left a bad taste in my mouth - along with a lighter wallet and a "broken" furniture. I am planning to make a call on Monday to talk to the store manager. Hopefully, she will be able to make this experience a bit lighter. I will update this...

New update(3/14/2023)!!! They canceled my order. They said they cannot fulfill my order because they overbooked this item. The Funny thing is that I ordered this item 5/28/2022. They sent me defected item and made me put the replacement order in October 2022. In the end, they canceled my order today. Almost one year waiting..now I need to find a new dining table again. I'm so upset. Update(2/24/23)!! Finally, I received the other part of my sofa set. But the problem is still here. The height of left and right side is different. The color of both side is different. And the left arm slightly defective (scratches on it). I don't know what is my available options... New update(2/18/23)!!! Nothing changed. I am still waiting the chaiser part of the sofa and the table top of the dining table. The chaiser came to NJ, but I don't know why they call me and set up the delivery date. Showing as to the delivery center. And the table top? I don't know where it is. Of course, the customer center need to send inquiry to vendor. Update(12/23)!! Today I received the 2 seater of sectional and the table base. But, I found out the table top(which is I already got in may garage) is totally cracked!! So I need to reorder for that. And it will be available to deliver in end of Feb or early Mar.. The chaise of sectional and the table top will be delivered NEXT YEAR...I ordered these in MAY 28TH!!! Update!(12/19) Unsurprisingly, I still, only received the table top. And Reordered the table base on 12/17, because they failed to locate where it is. My reordered 2 seater part of the sofa set(reordered on 10/27) is still coming to the warehouse. And they still find out where is my chaiser part of the sofa set. My order placed in May, and I needed to reordered all most everything in end of October and December(new!!!). I don't know I can get these in Jan 2023. But just one thing has changed. Usually nobody gave me answers, now I have someone who can directly contact. UPDATE!!!! (10/27) Today was my second delivery date for the sofa. AND they has CANCELLED AGAIN!!!! last time they could't locate chase body. this time they couldn't locate right arm part. Still zero star is not enough... Zero star is not enough. Today was my PARTIAL delivery date(I ordered two. Sofa and dining table. Today was for sofa.)and they just has canceled the delivery. AND DO NOT INFORM ME AT ALL. I ordered in May. They do nothing. Do not call back. Do not investigate. They don't know where is the...

This review is more about West elm as whole and not specifically the Primus location.

I bought the Anton 42 inch coffee table with storage drawer. It’s an $800 coffee table. They have vague assembly instructions that basically imply that there is some assembly required and I anticipated the draw would need to be installed. I didn’t want it to be an issue getting the tracks in place so I figured since they were offering $160 White glove assembly and installation. I should probably take it. It turns out that everything is factory assembled and it’s delivered whole so for $160 basically they’re just removing the cardboard packaging. To top it off the drawer does not open or closed properly at all. I called the number to complain and they acknowledged that there is a known problem with the draw on this coffee table and they are aware of it and they can send somebody out to repair it. I also mentioned that I didn’t think $160 was reasonable for them to remove a cardboard box. She told me to please hold and she would get me to a different department that would give me some consideration / refund that cost. The woman I ended up talking to in the second department was fairly rude and short and told me basically it’s buyer beware and if you click the white glove service even if it turns out that there is no assembly required, there’s nothing they can do about it. It feels like a scam to me. If there is no actual assembly Ode that should be clearly visible on the website. Furthermore, They shouldn’t even offer $160 fee for a product that doesn’t actually require any assembling or installation, Not to mention that I would think $800 would get me a quality coffee table and apparently it doesn’t from West Elm.

Next time I would just spend the 2k and go to arhaus. This is a garbage company w garbage products and garbage...